ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was shot at and
injured by unidentified attackers while he was leading a rally to Islamabad on
Thursday demanding snap polls. Several shots were fired at the truck carrying
the cricketer-turned politician through Pakistan's Punjab province.
Imran, 70, was injured in the right leg. Reuters said there was a lot of bleeding
and Imran and several of his supporters fell down. He has been taken to a hospital
in Lahore, where the rally started, and is out of danger. Senator Faisal Javed
Khan was also injured in the attack. A party worker was killed. One more worker
was seriously injured. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack.
One of the attackers has been shot dead, according to one report. During interrogation
an attacker in custody confessed that he wanted to assassinate the leader of
the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party (PTI) because he is "misleading people."
The incident took place at at Allahwala Chowk in Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Punjab,
200 km from the Capital Islamabad.
According to Geo News, there were two gunmen. One was carrying a pistol and
the other an automatic rifle. One of them has been arrested. Shots fired from
the automatic rifle and the pistol can be heard in a video in circulation.
Imran was ousted as Prime Minister in a confidence vote in April last.
Foreign Minister and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
"strongly condemned" the attack on Imran Khan and prayed for his swift recovery.
Pakistan is notorious for political violence. Another former Prime minister
Benazir Bhutto, daughter of former statesman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who was hanged,
was shot dead during a rally in 2007.
